What are the most important features for the next generation of gaming consoles?

[Irritablesquid]

In not too fussed really, I don't really use much social media so it's useless for me.
I have a PS4, PC, XBOX and Switch only bought the PS4 and PC the others were given to me.
Exclusives are fine with me, I don't really like it but I don't think there is anything wrong with them, PC also get exclusives but it never seems to bother people.

I also don't understand the arguments over which is best, consoles and PC have their uses.

Letting you upgrade the consoles throughout the years would be good but will most likely be taken advantage of, they will probably sell the upgrades at extortionate prices for very slight benefits.

If they choose to go diskless then I hope the add more memory and let us own the games we buy, hopefully they will also get rid of tier releases and just go with a standard like they used to. Surely it will save a lot of money for publishers which would mean less monetization, but that'll never happen.

[shoyu]

The games. If graphics matter that much to you, get a PC.

[Dub-Z]

It's inevitable, but it's still in my current needs, wants and expectations. If they want to cut costs for the entry level console, do it there, but give people like me a premium option. In the future, a disc drive add-on might be a viable product for a "stubborn" demographic like mine. Something that will plug into hardware for several generations until the cable/port it uses becomes the equivalent of a 3.5mm audio jack.

[DarkTranquillity]

Backwards compatible
Fix download speeds - my ps4 could only get about 35mbps (ithink it was, havent touched it in a long while) despite having 150mbps internet
fix the buggy and laggy UI (ps4)
ship with 2TB HDD or 500gb SSD or something. Or both....
dont try to be a social media platform.
i dont play console much anymore. Only when im out of town for extended periods so i dont know if the ps4 pro fixed any of this etc.

[Smackems]

I don't really care about any of that. I just want:

Better graphics and whatnot
More cpu
Still support physical
Compress downloads
Don't be dependent on online

Bam. That's about it.

[Sirgeorge]

No one, but Microsoft is floating the idea of having a discless console option. I'm expressing my intention to choose the disc-based option out of whatever they have available, and my preference for local computation over streaming along with it. It will remain important to me even as iterative options increase.

I also would like to see games shipped on 100 GB capacity 4K UHD discs, which isn't currently a standard outside of movies, but could have benefits in regards to modern install sizes and data caps. I don't see that happening on the next generation though because many people will still own the previous iteration consoles which wouldn't be compatible with a UHD game disc. However, if movie studios can afford to ship films with both a blu-ray and a UHD in them, there's no reason AAA game companies couldn't do it with their huge games.

As downloading games and playing them on hard drives becomes more popular and viable, I'm afraid the dying days of disc based solutions will become apparent. That extra hardware makes any console more expensive, complex (prone to failure), and bulkier/heavier. We'll see where it goes from here, but it would be rather difficult to see a maintenance of current status on this front.

[Dub-Z]

Who says next gen consoles are going to be download only?

No one, but Microsoft is floating the idea of having a discless console option. I'm expressing my intention to choose the disc-based option out of whatever they have available, and my preference for local computation over streaming along with it. It will remain important to me even as iterative options increase.

I also would like to see games shipped on 100 GB capacity 4K UHD discs, which isn't currently a standard outside of movies, but could have benefits in regards to modern install sizes and data caps. I don't see that happening on the next generation though because many people will still own the previous iteration consoles which wouldn't be compatible with a UHD game disc. However, if movie studios can afford to ship films with both a blu-ray and a UHD in them, there's no reason AAA game companies couldn't do it with their huge games.

[Aidy]

Who says next gen consoles are going to be download only?

[Dub-Z]

What's important to the broader market will probably be different than what's important to me, but I need backwards compatibility and cross-generational carry through at this point. I want iterative consoles and see no reason whatsoever to go back to reinventing the wheel with crazy hardware design. I don't need some fancy new controller either. Both controllers are fine, and if anything needs to be fixed on the DS4, it's battery life due to that stupid light and a rumored, full touch screen isn't going to help.

If I get Last of Us 2, Death Stranding and Ghosts of Tsushima on PS4 Pro before the next Playstation comes, and I can't just put those discs in the next box, or download them straight from my account day 1, I ain't buying in until the drought is over and there's an absolute must have (like Bloodborne was). I'll consider it a middle finger.

I want easily implemented upgrades and scalability for what I already own, and performance vs fidelity options. I want the capability for 4K/30 or 1080p/60+ with effects so if there's multiple sku options, I'm going to pick the best one. I don't want to still be begging for upgrade patches to Sony's first party titles 5 years in, like we have been with Bloodborne. It also shouldn't cost second and third party devs an arm and a leg to offer patches, making it too costly no matter how many fans ask for it.

I also enjoy the share functions on the current console, especially the PS4 where it's super snappy, easy and supports more places to share. I hope this continues on Playstation, and I hope it improves on Xbox.

I like Sony's XMB, but hate how cluttered and non-navigable the PSN and the total cluster**** account system. I love how everything works better on my X, the store is a lot better, but I still feel like it's an unintuitive, clunky OS. I like Game Pass. Keep that up.

I want options for online play subscriptions... that genie is never going back in the bottle, but since I don't want 90% of what's on PS+ or already own it, let me pay $10 for online. Especially since I don't play Fortnite, CoD etc and Sony sure as hell ain't putting my subscription money into servers for the few online games I do play. Any extra deals it gets me on PS+ don't amount to much if I already bought stuff at release, and even with PS+ discounts being Costco membership style, they don't get near as cheap as Steam.

Refunds.

I'm still going to want a physical disc drive, even if I buy a lot of stuff digital or just use Game Pass for some things. I buy movies on disc and it's an essential part of my entertainment center... would prefer not to have a dedicated player + two consoles, or an old console + two other new consoles. I want to see 4K UHD discs not just for movies, but also for storage capacity. We've already broken 100GB, but a lot of that can go on disc for everyone's sake. I got a new external HDD on Dec 31st, immediately went to download some stuff I'd deleted throughout the year, and went over my data cap for the month... extra $30 on my bill. Options are cool.

On that note, we need smarter digital content delivery. Nobody who isn't 4K capable, trying to downsample, or who's going to prioritize higher framerate performance modes should be downloading and inflating their install sizes with 4K textures and assets, and if I want to be really optimal about things, I shouldn't have 20GB of 1080p assets if all I want to see is non-upscaled 4K with actual 4K assets in any given game... turning 110 GB into 90 GB certainly wouldn't hurt. I understand this won't always work with dynamic res, faux-K or rendering tech that mixes and matches different quality textures (LOD etc)... but where applicable, I can see myself selecting what to download in the same way we can with DLC add ons.

tl;dr a lot of what I want is PC 101, but there's no reason consoles can't be better, and they suit my lifestyle + offer exclusives.

[Aidy]

Also people on these forums:
"If someone says something I disagree with I'll just call them a fanboy and to back that up I'll accuse them of saying things they haven't said"

[Mike]

Honestly, the idea of the next console generation kind of exhausts me.

I can't wait to watch ridiculous announcement press conferences and then be subjected to countless hours of internet experts and analysts arguing about which is better..

Only to play games at a marginal difference in performance.

Agreed...

I don't care about any of the ideas mentioned by OP either. I want good gameplay, original ideas and to be able to own it on a physical disc / cart and for it to not cost £40+. I couldn't care less about the latest graphics or technical specs and so on.. These companies seem to have hit a wall as they realise that VR and AR aren't the next big thing like they thought.

IMO the next gen of consoles will feel the brunt of the video game crash especially consoles which are download-only... people don't like being ripped off, and outside of cities the internet is slooooow in a lot of areas. General economic factors will mean much fewer people will be able to drop £400 on a console, and parents (the main purchasers of consoles) will not see enough of a difference between the current and next gen PS/XBox/etc. to justify the expense. Especially if backwards compatibility is removed by not having a disc drive, which will piss off a LOT of people.

[Yoshi]

I don't think anyone loves console exclusives, but the question is about the most important feature, which to me is exclusive games. Otherwise, I would very happily not buy any of them. Said differently, I hate console exclusives, because they're the only thing that is going to make me buy the hardware.

The only exception I can think of is that I got my family an Xbox One for Christmas so that we could stream 4K movies and watch 4K Blu-Rays on it. I was debating a late model Apple TV, but the deep discount made the One S bundles only $50 more and with disc support and backward compatibility with exclusive games I already own, bringing us full circle.

[Baron Baldric]

Backwards Compatible

[Yoshi]

and... /thread

[isturbo1984]

How are you gonna get "pulled in" unless you buy and play the games in the first place? It would be a shame if you bought, say, a PS4 for Persona 5 and Kingdom Hearts 3... and NOTHING else, lol. Consoles are investments. It wouldn't be a good idea to buy one just do you can play literally two games on the thing. Likewise, it would be dumb if someone bought a car and just sat in it in the drive way.

The point being, you get games, you play games. Not sit on the sidelines and tell the world how utterly uninterested you are in the game you arent even going to attempt to play.